The Bet
by honeybelle92
Summary: How will Hermione ever survive her seventh year, what with all the horny men and betting students following her like bees following honey? Please review.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction. I would be shopping. **

**Summary: Hermione Granger has always been considered the untouchable know-it-all. However, when Draco Malfoy bets Blaise Zabini he can't get Granger to fall for him, things start to change. Plus, it doesn't help matters much that she starts getting some unnerving, but not unwanted, glances from the hot new teacher. How will she ever survive her seventh year?**

**Chapter One**

Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy sat in comfortable silence as the fire crackled and hissed, keeping the normally chilly common room warm enough for shorts. Besides the fireplace, the only sound in the room was the scratching of Hermione's quill on a piece of parchment and the occasionally flipping of the page from Blaise's magazine. It was a Saturday night, about an hour before they were schedule to start patrolling, one of the many duties that came with being Head Boy and Girl.

Hermione yawned and set down her quill. She sat back on the plush couch. "How's your magazine?" she asked Draco.

"Pretty good," he said, flipping the page, keeping his eyes on the magazine.

"And your day? How was that?"

"The same."

She crossed her arms with a sigh. "I'm bored," she announced to the room.

"Really?" Draco asked, finally looking up at her with a raised eyebrow and the makings of a smirk. "I had no idea."

She stuck her tongue out at him, feeling very mature. "Let's do something."

"Like what?"

"I dunno. Just something. I am so freaking bored."

"We could start patrolling early."

"Just 'cause my legs would be moving, does not mean I would be any less bored." She stood, moving over to his side of the room. She plopped down next to him. "I think there is something poetic about this."

"About what, love?" Draco asked, looking at her over the top of his magazine.

"Hermione Granger, little miss know-it-all and bookworm, wants to do something exciting, while Draco Malfoy, supposed bad boy of Slytherin, is content staying in. I think living together has made us swap personalities."

Draco smirked. "I offered to go torment some first years an hour ago, and you said you had homework."

"That's true." She tilted her head to the side, thinking. "And all the first years are probably asleep by now, so that plan just flew out the window."

Draco set down his magazine and swung his arm over Hermione's shoulders. "I think if we put our heads together, we can come up with something to do."

"Right," Hermione said. "I mean, we must have been picked to be Heads for a reason. There's some serious brainpower in this room."

It was about a month into Hermione and Draco's seventh year at Hogwarts. At the beginning of the year, both students had cringed at the idea of being Heads with each other; however, after only a week together, both realized that, just because they were from different houses that hated each other, didn't mean they couldn't be friends. And friends they were. Hermione still thought Draco was a prick, but a funny prick, and Draco knew that, when given the opportunity, Hermione was one of the funniest people he knew, and someone he genuinely liked spending time with. There were rumors floating around that the teachers felt that they were the best Heads to ever grace Hogwarts because of their instant compatibility.

Someone knocked at the portrait door. Hermione jumped up in excitement and rushed over to the door.

"Oh," she said, once the door was open, "it's just you."

"Nice to see you too, Granger," Blaise Zabini said, striding past her and sitting on one of the couches.

"Sorry," Hermione said, joining Draco again. "It's just, I'm really bored and I was hoping it would be someone who could create some excitement."

"And I can't do that?"

"Sorry to break it to you, but you'll probably just read a magazine, like Draco. That's not what I call excitement."

"I am really hurt, Granger," Blaise said, feigning offense. "I thought we had something special."

"In your dreams, Zabini," she replied, smirking.

"Promise?"

She let out a bark of laughter. "Only if you promise to grace mine with your presence first."

"It's a date," he responded with a smirk.

Blaise turned to Draco. "I actually came here for a reason," he said. "I need to talk to you about something. It's kind of private." Saying that they could talk in his room, Draco stood up, walked over to his door, and entered.

Blaise stood and followed him, squeezing Hermione's shoulder as he walked past. Once the door to Draco's room was shut, Hermione let herself swoon.

She couldn't see herself admitting this to anyone, but she was strongly attracted to Blaise. He was extremely hot, with flawless olive skin, dark hair that curled at his neck and forehead, brown eyes that had the ability to go from being flirty to serious in a second, and a muscular body. He was almost a head taller than her and she wondered what it would feel like to be wrapped up in his strong arms.

Not only was she physically attracted to him, she was also attracted to his personality. He was funny and smart and one of the best flirts she had ever met. She loved spending the night bantering with him. His wit was sharper than a knife and he always knew the right things to say to make her laugh or get her riled up. She loved Draco to death but she secretly wished Blaise had been selected as Head Boy just so she could "accidentally" walk in on him in the shower, something she had done to Draco at least three times since the beginning of the year. Not that she minded walking in on Draco. He was just as hot as Blaise, and could make her laugh just as hard. However, it was Blaise that she wanted to kiss, Blaise that she wanted to spend the whole night talking to, Blaise that she wanted to curl up against.

Sadly, she also knew that the odds of Blaise returning her feelings were slim. Yes, he flirted with her and yes, he seemed to enjoy spending time with her. Nonetheless, whenever she saw him with another girl, he seemed to act in the same manner. She was nothing special to him.

Inside Draco's room, Blaise was trying to ignore what seeing Hermione in shorts and a skimpy tank top had been doing to his nether regions. He didn't want to acknowledge the fact that he had been getting some serious feelings about Hermione in the past couple weeks. Yes, she was hot and yes, she made him the happiest he had ever been, but that didn't mean she returned his feelings. He didn't feel in control in this situation, which was something he could guarantee on in his other relationships. He thought it would just be better to secretly lust after her and overlook the strong thoughts he had around her.

"So what's up, dude?" Draco asked, climbing onto his bed and leaning against the headboard. Blaise sat down on Draco's desk chair.

"You know the Stewart sisters, right? Well, they seem to think they both are dating me and it has created some problems in the common room. Do you think you could take one of them off my hands?"

Draco smirked. "Why do you always seem to be getting into these kinds of situations?"

"Girls just gravitate towards me," Blaise said, smirking.

Draco saw the opening he had been looking for all week and grabbed onto it. "So you're saying you can get any girl at the school?"

"Pretty much."

"I bet you can't get Hermione to fall for you," Draco said.

Blaise's heart stopped for a moment but he quickly regained his composure. "Oh yeah? How much are you willing to bet on that?"

Draco pretended to think for a moment. "If you can get Hermione to fall for you by Christmas, I'll tell Snape I have inappropriate dreams about him. If you can't, you tell McGonagall the same thing."

Blaise's eyes widened a bit. "Alright," he said, smirking. "It's a deal."

**How does it look? I'd really appreciate some ideas, because I'm not sure what else to do, other than what I already have planned. Reviews are welcomed and result in faster updates. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I hate these things, mostly because they remind me that Harry Potter isn't mine. **

**Chapter Two**

Hermione woke up the next morning and stretched languidly. She threw the covers off her body, wrapped herself up in a fluffy robe, and padded over to the bathroom after grabbing some clothes.

She pushed open the door, yawning. The sight in front of her made her drop her clothes. Someone was standing in the shower, his back to her, completely naked. Her knees almost buckled as she took in the strong, tan back, water still dripping from his shoulders. As her mind went blank, her eyes began to drift south.

"If you wanna take this somewhere more private, we can." Her eyes shot up. Blaise was staring back at her, his eyes twinkling, his hair smoothed back from his face. The towel he had been holding was now wrapped around his waist, and he started to step out of the shower, causing Hermione's senses to kick back in.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried, slapping her hand over her eyes. "I'll just leave." She backed out of the bathroom, her clothes forgotten on the floor.

Hermione collapsed on her bed, trying to ignore the feelings that seeing Blaise's wet body had created in her. Yes, she had wished the night before that she could walk in on Blaise in the shower, but her reaction was making her think it would be a bad idea. With Draco, she just enjoyed the view. With Blaise, however, she was considering joining him in the shower.

About ten minutes later, Hermione cautiously stood up and crept over to the bathroom. A quick glance inside told her that it was empty and she could now get ready in peace. She showered quickly and, since it was still unseasonably warm and the students were not forced to wear their uniforms on the weekend, she changed into shorts and a t-shirt. She brushed out her long, dark, curly hair and pulled in back into two braids.

Hermione walked out into the common room, where Blaise and Draco were sitting on the couches. Blaise looked absolutely delicious in dark jeans and a tight shirt that molded to every single one of his muscles. Because she was worried she would jump him right there, she sat next to Draco.

"Not that I don't love your company, Zabini," she said, ignoring the look he gave her that was dripping with innuendo, "but why exactly are you here so early? I know our bathroom is amazing, but why?"

Blaise smirked. "Draco and I were spent all last night…talking about something, and we both thought it would be stupid for me to leave at one in the morning, so I just crashed on your couch. I'll try not to make a habit of it."

Hermione stopped herself from saying she wouldn't mind if he slept on their couch; in fact, she would much prefer it if he slept in her plan. "What are our plans for today?" she asked, turning to Draco.

"I still have some homework to finish, but you guys are welcome to do whatever you want." Even if losing the bet meant he had to tell Snape about his fictional dreams, he wanted to get the two of them together. They were starting to annoy him, with their constant flirting and dancing around each other. He just wanted them to shag already and get it over with.

Before Hermione had a chance to respond, someone knocked on the door. She stood to answer it and Blaise treated himself to a look at her arse. If she got to see him naked, he felt he deserved an ogle or two of her.

"Hey, Ginny," Hermione said, opening the door so the younger girl could come inside. Ginny hurriedly turned to her friend.

"You know how Professor McGowan quit because of the accident with that hex, right?" Hermione nodded. Everyone knew about the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor fleeing the school, while trying to keep the boils on his skin from bursting. It was quite a sight.

"Well," Ginny continued, pulling Hermione out of her thoughts, "they finally found a replacement."

"Gin, I know you like that class, but why are you telling me this?"

"Um, maybe because he is extremely hot and I thought we could go introduce ourselves."

"Ginny!" Hermione lightly smacked the girl's arm. "You're dating Harry!"

"Well, _you're _not dating anyone! C'mon!" Ginny grabbed Hermione's arm and tried to pull her out of the room.

Hermione laughed and wiggled out of Ginny's grasp. "Calm down! I'll meet him tomorrow, with the rest of the students. Besides, he can't be that hot."

Ginny glanced over Hermione's shoulder at Blaise and Draco, who had been surprisingly quiet during this exchange. Ginny smirked. "I guess your definition of hotness has gone up a bit this year, what with you being surrounded by two of the hottest guys on campus." She strutted past Hermione and plopped down next to Draco. "Hermione, Blaise, leave us please," she said, leaning into Draco.

Hermione rolled her eyes and sat next to Blaise. "You knew you were such a floozy."

Ginny laughed. "You know I'm only kidding. Well, except about the hot thing."

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "If you keep going on like this, Draco's head is going to be too big to live with."

Ginny laughed. She squeezed Draco's thigh and stood up. "Since you're not interested in meeting the new teacher," she said, walking over to the door, "I'll just leave you here to play with your boy toys. Later." Ginny shut the door behind her and the room was quiet again.

Blaise attempted to ignore how close Hermione was sitting to him and tried to pay attention to the girl as she described to Draco about her desire to do something fun. However, this was proving near impossible. Her thigh was pressed against his, her arm brushing his arm every few moments. He stared down at their legs, noting how good they looked next to each other. Their skin contrasted sharply and he had a strong feeling that, if he put his hand on her thigh and rubbed, it would be silky smooth. If only he had the courage to just reach over and touch it--

"Zabini?" He looked up at the sound of his name. Hermione and Draco were staring at him like he was crazy.

"Did you have a question?" Hermione asked, trying to hide her smirk. Blaise noticed that his hand was in the air, probably on it's way to rub her leg. He quickly put it down and shook his head.

Hermione laughed. "Whatever you say." Her face turned serious. "I wanted to apologize for, um, walking in on you this morning. I should have knocked."

A smirk spread across Blaise's face. "I didn't mind it," he said, causing a blush to creep up Hermione's face.

She cleared her throat. "Anyways, I'm sorry." She stood up and stretched. Blaise was saddened by the loss of contact, but, as her shirt rode up and treated him to a nice few of her lower back, he didn't care much.

She grabbed her bag and walked over to the door. "Where are you going?" Blaise asked.

"Library," she called over her shoulder before the door shut. Blaise turned back around and faced Draco, who was smirking.

"When did she say she was going to the library?" Blaise asked Draco.

"Probably when you were trying to feel her leg up," Draco responded, his smirk growing.

Blaise's eyes widened. "Do you think she could tell that's what I was doing?"

Draco chuckled. "Isn't that what you want? The bet has started, and I know you don't want to tell McGonagall about your dreams."

"Right," Blaise said, sliding back into his flirtier persona. "I, uh, just didn't want scare her off. She's not any average girl; it's gonna take some work to get her to fall for me."

"Well," Draco said, leaning forward. "You better get started."

****

Hermione walked down the corridor, ignoring the students around her. Back in the common room, it had felt, for a second, like Blaise was going to…touch her thigh, or something. She couldn't be sure what. But she had gotten that feeling. And it had felt good.

Hermione shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had seen Blaise touch plenty of other girls in the same manner. He was just flirting. She was the only female in the room, so he might have been thinking about touching her.

Maybe she was just imagining things. Maybe it was all in her head. Yes, it was weird that he had put up his hand, but it could have been for any number of reasons. Just because she saw him naked in the shower did not mean that he suddenly liked her. Just because she was strongly attracted to him did not mean that she liked him either.

Hermione found a table deep in the library, away from the other students. Some of the windows had been opened, to let in the breeze, and she tried to ignore the sounds of her classmates having fun outside as she concentrated on the Potions essay in front of her.

"Excuse me?" Hermione looked up, ready to lash out at whoever had decided to disturb her. Everyone knew that, once she started studying, they were risking their lives by interrupting her.

Her reply to this unwelcome person caught in her throat. Standing in front of her was a god. Or, at least, something very close to a god. He was tall, with light brown hair that fell in his clear blue eyes, and attractive features. He was wearing dark slacks and a blue striped linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked too old to be a student but too young to be a teacher. He was clutching a duffel bag.

Hermione quickly found her voice, as he was expecting an answer. "Y-yes?" she asked, setting down her quill.

"I seem to be a little lost," he said, his voice smooth and deep. "I was looking for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and I somehow ended up in the library. Do you think you could help me?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows. So _this _was the new teacher Ginny was talking about. He was indeed hot. Hermione finally understood the girl's desire to introduce herself to him.

"Sure," Hermione said, quickly gathering her things and shoving them into her bag.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I'd hate to take you away from your studies. That's the first thing they teach you at professor school, not to prevent students from learning."

Hermione smiled. "It's okay," she said, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "I'm Hermione Granger," she said.

"David Cartwright," he replied, shaking her outstretched hand. "Well, I guess Professor Cartwright to you," he added with a smile. "You are a student, right?"

"Yup, seventh year."

"Ah, so you'll be leaving soon," he said as they exited the library and she directed them to the classroom.

"In, like, nine months."

"Are you excited?"

She thought for a moment. "I guess so. I mean, I love this place. I've had some of the greatest experiences of my life here. It's going to hurt to leave but I know that I have been properly prepared to handle anything the world can throw my way."

"That's probably the exact opposite of how I felt. I was so excited to get out of this place, to go see new things, and then I end up right where I started, just in different clothes."

Hermione smiled. "So you used to go to Hogwarts? How did you end up back here?"

"Dumbledore called me a few weeks ago and offered me the job. I had just gotten my teaching degree so I figured this would be a good place to start."

"Did you always know that you want to be a teacher?"

"Merlin, no. I left here thinking I wanted to be an Auror. Before I started the training, I spent a year in Australia and somehow started teaching a bunch young wizards while I was down there. When I came back to London, I knew what I wanted to do. I began taking classes about a week after I got back."

"How old are you exactly?" Hermione asked, glancing sideways at him.

David laughed. "I don't really know if that's something I should be discussing with a student."

"C'mon," Hermione said, urging him on. "I won't tell."

He laughed again. "Alright, I'm twenty-five."

"That's young," she commented, while slightly thinking to herself, _Only eight years older than me._

"Here we are," she said, coming to a stop in front of the classroom door. "Where's the rest of your stuff?"

"Dumbledore already sent it down." He unlocked the door with a key and held it open for Hermione.

"So if you went to the school," she said, following him to his office, "how did you get lost?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyes bright. "The last time I was here was seven years ago, and even then I was getting lost."

Hermione smiled. "I guess I have a better sense of direction than you do."

David opened his office door and walked in, probably excepting Hermione to follow him. However, she stood just on the threshold. She had never been this far into a teacher's personal life and it was starting to feel weird. She was attracted to David, she would have to be dead to feel any different, but she was also getting the feeling that he might be just as attracted to her. That wasn't something she was used to and she didn't know how to deal with it.

She cleared her throat. "I, um, should get back to the library and finish my essay." She thought she saw his face fall.

"That's probably a good idea," he said, quickly recovering. "I'll, ah, probably see you tomorrow, right/"

"Yeah, third period." She backed out of the room, trying to ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her want to stay with him.

"It was nice meeting you, Hermione Granger," he said, smiling.

"You, too, Professor," she said, rushing out of the classroom.

**How's the teacher thing? Is it weird, or does it seem natural? Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the plot.**

**Author's Note: So I've realized that having a beta for a story is a really good thing. Anyone who has betaed before, or is interested in doing it for me, please drop me a line. I'd really appreciate it. It's hard coming up with these ideas all on my lonesome, haha. **

**Chapter Three**

When Hermione returned to the library, she found Blaise sitting at one of the tables, writing something on a piece of parchment. She sat across from him and, without saying anything, took out her homework and continued working on her essay.

Blaise glanced up. "I thought you said you were coming straight to the library."

"I, uh, had a little detour," she responded, keeping her gaze down.

"Really," Blaise said, raising an eyebrow. When she didn't reply, he shrugged. "Whatever," he said, returning to the paper in front of him.

Hermione tried to concentrate on her essay; however, her thoughts were flying. She was happy to see Blaise, especially since it appeared as if he had come looking for her. Nonetheless, she couldn't stop thinking about David, er, Professor Cartwright. She wasn't the type of person to be attracted to teachers, and she definitely didn't think she was the type of person who attracted teachers. It was all very complicated.

After about an hour of silent work, Hermione put away her finished essay and stretched. Blaise had finished his work twenty minutes earlier and was now flipping through a magazine. He glanced up as she stretched and was treated to a view of her breasts rising and falling, causing his magazine to slip from his fingers. He fumbled with it for a moment, then seamlessly slid it into his bag, as if that had been his plan all along.

"C'mon," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the library.

"Where are we going?" she asked, laughing, trying to keep up with his long paces.

"Not sure," he responded. Hermione was pleased to note that he kept his grip around her hand tight.

They rounded the corner and, suddenly, David, um, _Professor Cartwright _was walking straight towards them. He smiled when he saw Hermione, raising his hand in greeting. Hermione gently pulled her hand from Blaise's, trying to ignore the way his face fell.

"Hello, Professor," she said, pleased that she had gotten his name correct.

"Hello, Miss Granger," he responded. "I keep running into you today, don't I?"

"Yes, you do." She didn't say anything about how she wished they would run into each other in her bedroom.

"This is, um, Blaise," she said, motioning to the stunned boy standing next to her. "He, ah, has your class third period as well, so you'll, uh, get us at the same time."

"Nice to meet you," David said, shaking hands with Blaise then turning his attention back to Hermione. "I'm suppose to be meeting Dumbledore, to discuss my classes, but I seem to have gotten lost again. D'you think you could point me in the right direction?"

"Sure. Just keep walking down this corridor, take the…second left, the first flight of stairs down, then it's a straight shot until you get to his offices."

"Thanks," he said, walking past them. "And if I get lost again, I'll just expect to run into you again and you can show me the way."

"Okay, Professor," she said, laughing at his retreating back. She started to walk again but realized that Blaise was not with her. Turning around, she saw him standing a few feet back, a smirk on his face.

"What?" she asked.

Blaise's smirk deepened as he sauntered up to her. "Who knew little Miss Granger had the ability to flirt with a teacher? I know that I'm surprised."

"Shut up," she said, smiling, smacking him on the arm. "It's not like that. He's nice. It's his first day as a teacher here, and I was just helping David find his way."

"David?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow.

_Shoot_, Hermione thought, cringing. "I mean, Professor Cartwright. He's my teacher, that's it." She started walking again, but Blaise easily caught up with her.

"Sure he is," he said, swinging his arm around the girl's shoulder. Inside, however, he was having a mental breakdown. It was going to be very difficult to win the bet if Hermione was crushing on their teacher.

And it wasn't just that. He wanted her to like him because he liked her, and he definitely didn't want her liking anyone else. He was jealous of the teacher, and jealousy was not something he enjoyed having. It made him feel petty and immature and, god forbid, _ugly_. Nonetheless, as they walked down the hallway, he couldn't stop thinking about some hexes he could use on the new teacher to make sure he stayed far away from Hermione.

Hermione and Blaise ended up back in the Head's common room. Draco was nowhere to be found. Blaise was secretly pleased that he had Hermione alone, and Hermione tried to ignore the tingling feeling she was getting from being alone with Blaise.

Hermione sat on one of the couches and Blaise sat next to her, swinging his arm casually across the back of the seat. He began to describe…_something_. Hermione was so entranced by the way that his lips moved that she had no idea what he was saying. All she could think about was how smooth his lips were, and full, and pink, and how amazing they would feel pressed against hers, his hands-

She looked up when she realized he was no longer talking. A smirk had spread across his lips (_his amazing lips_, she thought to herself), and his eyes were twinkling.

"Something distracting you?" he asked.

She cleared her throat. "Of course not. I was totally listening to you."

Blaise leaned forward. "Really? Then what did I just say?"

Hermione's eyes began to slide back down to his lips, but she pulled them back up. "Duh. You asked if something was distracting me."

Blaise laughed and leaned back. Hermione tried not to groan at the loss of contact. "Right. I think we should-"

He never got a chance to finish his suggestion because a knock on the door interrupted him. Both students looked over at the door, each secretly not wanting to open the door and ruin the extremely close moment they were having. Nevertheless, Hermione stood up and opened the door. Ginny pushed past Hermione to enter the common room, then spun around so she was facing the older girl again.

"I need to talk to you," Ginny said.

"What?"

"When were you gunna tell me that you're totally crushing on-"

Hermione slapped her hand over the other girl's mouth, her eyes shooting over to Blaise, who had sat up about halfway through Ginny's sentence. Hermione drew her gaze back to Ginny.

"Sorry," she said to the younger girl, removing her hand. "I just, uh, don't think Blaise wants to hear us talk girl talk. We should go to my room." Hermione dragged Ginny to her room, casting a silencing charm unbeknownst to Ginny or Blaise.

"Why are you freaking out?" Ginny asked. Hermione sighed and fell back against her bed. "I mean, it's not even like Blaise cares," Ginny continued.

Hermione shot up. "What do you mean? Why doesn't Blaise care?" She had a feeling that Blaise would care if he knew that she liked him.

"Because you're crushing on the new teacher. Why would he care about that?"

"What? I'm crushing on David? Who told you that?"

"Who the hell is David?"

Hermione cringed. "Sorry, I meant Professor Cartwright. Who told you that?"

Ginny's face softened into a smirk. "Ah, so he's _David_, is he? Well, well, well, this crush goes deeper than I had thought."

"Gin, who told you that I was crushing on him?"

"Harry. He said he saw you flirting with him earlier, and that you couldn't stop drooling over him. Why did you care if Blaise heard?"

"Uh, I, um, didn't want him telling a bunch of people."

Ginny studied the girl intently. "Or…maybe it's because…oh, my god, you like Blaise!"

"Shh! No, I don't!"

"You totally do," Ginny said, smirking. "I can't believe I didn't see this sooner. Of course you like him, why wouldn't you? And you were just flirting with the new teacher to…make Blaise jealous! Who knew you were so ingenious! Well, at least when it came to guys."

"Gin, that is so not what happened. Let me explain it to you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: None of it's mine except the plot. **

**Chapter Four**

The next day, Monday, Hermione cautiously entered her third period, Defense Against the Dark Arts. This was the class she shared with not only Blaise and Draco, but with Harry and Ron as well. Normally, Hermione had a hard enough time keeping the Slytherins and Gryffindors from attacking each other; now, however, she also had to deal with keeping her feelings about David a secret.

She had given up on correcting herself when she called the Professor by his first name in her head; nonetheless, she still had to be cautious when talking to someone else about him. It wouldn't be appropriate for a student to refer to a teacher by their first name, and Hermione didn't want people getting suspicious about why she seemed so comfortable with calling him that.

Hermione tried to pay attention during the class period, but David's shirt was just so _tight_, and he looked like he smelled _so good_…The bell marking the end of the class period rang, shocking Hermione out of her thoughts, and she realized that she had not taken a single note. She was going to need to start sitting in the back to prevent herself from failing the class.

She began to shove her things into her bag and prepared to join Harry and Ron, who were waiting for her by the door. However, David's voice made her stop.

"Miss Granger? Could I speak to you for a moment?" David asked, not looking up from the parchment he was writing on.

Hermione glanced over at Harry and Ron, and motioned for them to leave. Harry sent her one final goodbye look. Hermione walked over to the Professor's desk and waited for him to finish writing.

David looked up finally and smiled when he saw Hermione. "So, how did I do?" he asked.

Hermione returned his smile. "You did pretty good, especially considering how distracted about half of the class was."

He furrowed his brow at her, still smiling, confused. "What do you mean?"

She tried not to laugh. "Can you really not see it? You've definitely created some drama at this school."

"And why is that?" he asked, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

She rolled her eyes. "Are you really going to make me say it?" When he didn't reply, she rolled her eyes again. "Okay, you are very attractive, and you know it, which is kind of exasperating. Of course all the girls are going to be ogling you during this class, and probably not paying attention to what you are saying."

"And what about you?" he asked, leaning in so his face was about a foot away from hers, making her heartbeat increase. "Are you part of the group that can't stop…ogling me?"

She felt her face warm up but couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from his face, his extremely sexy face. "I, um, plead the fifth."

"We're not in America," he said, now standing, his face getting closer to hers by the second. His eyes dropped down to her lips, and that seemed to break her trance.

She stepped away and glanced down. "I, uh, really have to go. G-good class, Professor." She rushed out of the room without looking back.

As Hermione hurried down the corridor, she felt her face redden considerably. She had been inches away from kissing David! Who was her teacher! Not only was it potentially illegal, it was completely inappropriate. She was his student, for Merlin's sake! Besides, she was supposed to be crushing on Blaise, not some man who was almost a decade her senior.

She had never considered herself the kind of girl to do something like this; she had always scoffed at the girls who began affairs with their teachers. They were so vain and stupid and irresponsible in Hermione's eyes. However, now that she had almost had that kind of experience barely fine minutes prior, she was worried that she had judged too harshly.

It was surprisingly easy to get caught up in something like that; it was also exhilarating and scary and exotic and appealing. Hermione wanted to run back into David's arms but she also wanted to run in the opposite direction until she was away from it all.

Unfortunately, as she rounded the corner, she spotted Blaise a few meters away from her. She was not in the mood to talk to him, particularly because she was sure she looked like she had almost just had a sexual encounter with their teacher. Hermione kept her gaze down and tried to walk around him, but he spotted her easily. The corridor wasn't exactly filled students.

"Hey, Hermione," Blaise said, strolling up to her. "Are you okay?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, studying her. "You look…kind of weird."

"I'm totally fine," she said, brushing past him. "I just, um, was thinking about something."

"Oh," he said, catching up with her. "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing of importance. Just…the fastest way to get to my next class."

Blaise chuckled. "You're trying to find a quicker way to get to Potions? Really? You realize Snape is the professor in that class, right? I don't think I've ever seen you eager to get to Potions."

"Well, Professor Cartwright kept me after class for a few minutes, and now I'm not sure if I can make it to Potions without being late. I may hate Potions, but I don't hate being late."

"I suppose that's true," he said, shrugging. He glanced down at her when she didn't speak, and could see that she was avoiding his gaze. "Are you sure there's nothing else?"

Before Hermione could reply, they reached the Potions classroom, and she felt a rush of relief flow through her. She turned to Blaise. "Why do you even care?" she asked, almost snapping at him, then stormed to her seat, leaving Blaise at the door, a confused look on his face.

Hermione went through her next period in sort of a daze, and was thankful for lunch. She didn't really want to deal with Harry and Ron, so she directed herself towards her common room. Draco normally ate lunch in the Great Hall, so she was pretty sure she would be alone.

She entered the common room, grateful to see that it was, in fact, empty. She walked into her bedroom and collapsed on her bed. She needed some time to think, and her bed was the perfect place to do just that.

Hermione accidentally fell asleep and did not wake up until Draco came barging into her room several hours later. When he saw Hermione sprawled out on her bed he started cracking up, causing her to wake up most violently.

"W-what?" she said, disoriented. When she saw that it was Draco who had disturbed her, she glared at him. "I was trying to take a quick nap, thank you so much."

"When did you come back to the dorm?" he asked, trying to conceal his laughter and failing miserably.

"Um, after fourth," she said, yawning. "Is, uh, lunch over?"

"Well, I did just eat, but it wasn't lunch. Honey, you slept through the rest of the day. Dinner just got over."

Hermione shot up. "What?! Are you kidding me? I slept through the whole day? How is that possible?!"

"Obviously you were tired. I feel like there is something bugging you. Anything you want to talk about?"

Hermione cleared her throat. "Nope, I'm good. How about you? Any problems?"

Draco smirked and sat down next to Hermione. "Well, I'm having a problem with my dorm mate. Maybe you can help me? See, the thing is, she thinks that she can hide her feelings from me, and that I am completely oblivious to what she is thinking, and, yet, that is so not the case. I usually know exactly what she is thinking and feeling and doing all the time. How, oh, how can I make her stop acting like an idiot?"

Hermione smiled and pushed herself playfully against him. "Well, maybe if you stop acting like an idiot, she will too." She glanced up at his face. "Can you really tell what I'm thinking and feeling and doing _all_ the time?"

"Pretty much," he said, stretching out on her bed. "We've become pretty close this year, and it has opened up a whole new can of information about you that I never would have believed I would be privy to."

"Oh yeah? What kind of information?"

"To start, the fact that you are in love with Blaise, but for some reason won't act on your emotions."

"That is such a lie," Hermione said, sitting up.

"Oh please," Draco said. "I know you better than you know yourself. You love him. Admit it."

"Well," she said slowly, "I don't think it's _love_…but I do really like him."

"Then what is stopping you from telling him how you feel?"

Hermione lay back down, nestling her head against Draco's chest. "I don't know. I just…can't seem to do it." She glanced up at Draco. "Maybe you could do it for me!"

"No way. I don't want to get in the middle of you two." He felt kind of bad for lying to her, but figured that the bet was all a façade for Blaise to be able to get closer to Hermione.

Hermione sighed. "I wish there was an easier way to do this. You know, like, you just feel a certain way about someone, and they feel the same way about you, and you just instantly get together, without any hoopla or anything like that. And you're just happy."

"Hm, well, if that were possible, the world would be much less exciting." He looked down at Hermione. "Are you sure there is nothing else bothering you? You seemed kind of weird in third period."

She looked down at her hands. "There, um, is nothing. I was just, ah, tired. That must be why I fell asleep for so long."

"You know, eventually I'm going to figure it out."

"Good luck with that."

The students were interrupted by someone knocking on the common room door. Draco went to go investigate, while Hermione spent a moment combing the tangles out of her hair with her fingers. Suddenly, Ginny burst into the older girl's room.

"Where have you been?" Ginny asked, almost hysterically. "I was waiting for you to show up to lunch, and to dinner, so we could talk about the, ah…" Ginny interrupted and corrected herself when she realized that Draco was standing right behind her, "the…problem…you are…experiencing."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I suppose we could discuss that. But, just a tip. I find that subtly is a trait that is beneficial and respected, even though it is very obvious you do not possess said trait."

"I'm sorry," Ginny said. "It's just, you drop a bomb on me and then expect me not to pounce on you for more details? I can't help who or what is around when I want 'said' details."

"I can usually tell when I'm not wanted," Draco spoke up from behind Ginny. "I'll leave you two alone and go find Blaise." He caught Hermione's eye and winked. "Later, ladies."

Once they were alone, Ginny turned to Hermione. "He knows about Blaise?"

Hermione shrugged. "He kind of figured it out on his own. Apparently I'm easy to read."

"Well, kind of. So why weren't you at lunch? Or dinner?"

"I, um, sorta…fell asleep."

Ginny burst out laughing. "Wait, you're telling me that, the reason you missed half of the day, is because you were _sleeping?!_"

Hermione swatted at Ginny. "It's not funny. I can't believe I missed half the day! How am I going to explain it to my professors? Let alone, catch up!"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You're Head Girl, just tell them you were doing something…constructive for the school. And we both know it will take you no time to catch up. You didn't even miss the whole day."

"I guess," Hermione said, sitting down. She looked at Ginny. "Why are you here, again?"

Ginny rolled her eyes again, and sat down next to Hermione. "I wanted to talk to you about your infatuation with a certain Professor. Making any progress?"

Hermione groaned out loud as she remembered the reason she had taken solace in her room. She covered her face with her hands. "You are never going to believe what I almost did today."

"What?"

She peeked through her fingers. "We almost kissed."

"Who? You and Blaise?"

Hermione shook her head. "Me and David."

Ginny gasped out loud. "No way! Are you shitting me?! You almost kissed a--" she lowered her voice, "--professor?!" Hermione nodded. Ginny burst out in laughter. "That is definitely not what I expected to hear….How was it?"

"Ginny!" Hermione groaned. "This is so not the time for that! I could get him fired!"

"Only if other people find out. Don't worry, I'll keep your secret. But…what about Blaise?"

"I don't know! Oh, I'm so confused!"

"Mhm. Things would be so much easier if you were ugly."

"Ginny!" Hermione smacked her friend's arm, but it was playful.

"Well, it would be," Ginny said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. **

**Author's Note: So I had this chapter written for a while, I just never got around to uploading it. I guess I just forgot lol. Sorry about that, and I hope you all like it. On with the reading! (And hopefully reviewing lol).**

**Chapter Five**

The next day, David asked Hermione to stay after DADA again. Worried that they might actually end up kissing this time, she was very apprehensive.

"I, ah, wanted to apologize about yesterday," he said once the room was empty. "It was completely inappropriate and I should have known better."

Hermione cracked a small smile. "It's okay," she said. "This school makes people do…crazy things."

"I suppose that's true," he said. "I, um, just don't want things to be weird between us."

"Don't worry," she said, waving her hand nonchalantly. "I've experienced much weirder things."

After fixing her relationship with David, the rest of the week passed relatively quickly. A Hogsmeade trip was planned for that Saturday, which had visions of new quills and mugs of butterbeer dancing through Hermione's head. She had planned on taking the trip with Ginny but an unexpected Quidditch practice forced Ginny to turn Hermione down. The next person on Hermione's list was Draco.

"Please?" she asked him, practically on her knees begging.

"I'm sorry," Draco said, "but I'm extremely behind in Potions. I need to work on at least three other assignments, not to mention the essay Snape gave us for this weekend."

"How are you going to convince him to let you turn in three late assignments?"

He pretended to think for a moment. "My charming wit?"

"Nice try." She sighed. "I suppose I shouldn't prevent you from catching up on your schoolwork. I don't really understand how you could get so bloody far behind."

"Malfoys have exceptionally busy social lives."

She smirked. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Draco."

He plopped down on a couch and put his legs up on the table. "Now, love, I know it's hard for you to have fun without me, but I really need you to try, for both our sakes." He reached into his pocket, pulled out a coin, and flipped it to her. "Buy me something sweet."

Hermione ducked out of the way of the flying coin and let it clatter onto the floor behind her. Draco burst out into laughter.

"Wow. That was impressive. Promise me you won't ever go near a Quidditch field. Under any circumstances."

"Aye, aye, captain," she said, scooping the coin off the floor and slipping it into the pocket of her jeans. "Try not to learn too much today," she said, walking over to the portrait door. She hesitated for a moment and said, over her shoulder, "Do you, um, know if Blaise is going to Hogsmeade today?"

Because her back was facing him, Hermione didn't see the smirk on Draco's face. "I'm not sure, love. I guess you will just have to go and see."

"Right." She nodded to herself, as if she needed reassurance, and left the room. Draco chuckled and, using his wand, _Accio_-ed his homework over to him.

The corridor was filled with students heading to Hogsmeade and Hermione merged into the streaming crowd easily. She hated going to Hogsmeade by herself, but Harry and Ron were both also at practice. The only other person she would consider going to Hogsmeade with was Blaise, and she felt that asking him to go with her would be too much like a date. She wasn't quite ready to make that leap.

"Miss me?" Hermione jumped as Blaise slid his arm across her shoulder.

She smiled up at him. "I was just thinking about you."

"Imagining me naked on your bed, writhing in pleasure?"

She laughed. "Exactly. It's so weird how easily you can read my thoughts."

"It's the Zabini charm. We cause women to display their thoughts on their faces. It's quite a talent."

"It sounds like one."

Blaise looked around with exaggeration. "Where's the rest of the Granger posse?"

"Please don't ever say 'posse' again." She sighed dramatically. "They all had plans that were much more important than little ol' me."

He squeezed her shoulder. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I showed up."

"You have no idea," she said, smirking.

They entered Hogsmeade together and Hermione directed them towards her favorite quill shop.

"I don't understand your fascination with these things," Blaise said, following Hermione down the aisles. "I mean, isn't a quill just a quill?"

Hermione shot him a dirty look. "For your information, quills come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes."

"Weird," he said, amazed that it was possible to fill a store with just quills.

After Hermione purchased more quills than Blaise was sure he owned at that moment, they bought Draco his "something sweet" that would hopefully also turn his skin a lovely shade of blue. Hermione was pleased to note that, whenever given the chance, Blaise put his arm back around her shoulder.

They turned a corner and neither seemed to notice that they were now alone. At least, neither said anything about them being alone.

"So why did you come here by yourself?" Blaise asked after a moment of silence.

"Ginny, Harry, and Ron had Quidditch practice, and Draco had homework." She glanced up at him. "Why did you come alone?"

Blaise smirked. "I was hoping to get some alone time with you. I didn't think dragging along another Slytherin would be the best idea."

Hermione stopped walking, turned to him, and her smirk widened. "And why would you want to get some alone time with me?"

"I think you know," he said, before pressing his lips against hers. She was shocked at his movements but eagerly reciprocated, moving closer to him, tangling her fingers in his hair. He held her hips tightly, slipped his tongue into her willing, opened mouth. Their tongues battled for dominance, both hoping the moment would never end.

"Excuse me," someone said, clearing his throat behind them. The two students sprang apart, Hermione's face the shade of a tomato. It turned an even deeper red when she saw who had interrupted them.

"David--" _Shoot, _"--Professor Cartwright!" she said, the attractive teacher standing awkwardly about two feet away from them.

He cleared his throat again. "Miss Granger, Mr. Zabini. This is a school sanctioned outing, and I would appreciate it if you would not do…_that_…during school activities."

"Sorry, Professor," Hermione said, her gaze down. She pulled away from Blaise and pushed past David, completely embarrassed.

Hermione knew it was rude to just leave Blaise alone, especially after what had just happened; however, she was only focused on getting as far away from that scene as possible. And that meant that she ended up back at the school.

She wasn't in the mood to just head back to her common room so, since it was a beautiful day out, she decided to walk around the grounds. It gave her a chance to think and clear her head.

After walking for a few minutes, she noticed Draco sprawled out under a tree, his head propped up. She went over to him and plopped down next to him.

"Hey," she said, not looking at him, realizing that he was watching the sun set.

"Hey," he said, sitting up so they were level. "What are you doing here? Did your Hogsmeade trip finish early?"

She glanced over at him. "It kind of…ended badly."

"How so?" he asked, crinkling his brow questioningly.

Hermione explained kissing Blaise and getting caught by David. Draco tried to suppress his laughter.

"I'm sorry," he said, failing miserably. "That is some intense birth control, having a professor walk in on you."

"Pretty much," she said, leaning back against the tree. Draco swung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her against him. They watched the sun together.

"So, um, minor question," he said after a few moments of silence. "Why, ah, did you call Professor Cartwright…David?"

Hermione closed her eyes in regret and embarrassment. "I, um, don't really know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me," he said, laughing. "Are you and the professor having some kind of weird, Mrs. Robinson-esque relationship? Except with the roles switched, obviously."

Hermione looked up at him. "You've seen _The Graduate_?" she asked in shock.

"Hell yes," Draco said. "Dustin Hoffman is amazing."

Hermione burst out into laughter. "Wow. Never would I have expected Draco Malfoy to watch, not only a Muggle movie, but an American Muggle movie. It's insanity."

"The world is a crazy, crazy place."

They watched the rest of the sunset in silence and walked back up to the school together. Hermione wanted to apologize to Blaise, but she wasn't sure where to find him. Figuring he would eventually come looking for her, she stayed in the common room with Draco and helped him with some of his homework.

"How are things with you and Blaise? I mean, besides what happened today?"

"I don't know," Hermione said, sighing. "I…I like him, but things just seem to be…so complicated. I just wish I could crush on someone without any baggage or strings or anything like that."

"I think that's impossible," Draco said, leaning back against the couch. Hermione leaned against him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I think anyone you have romantic feelings about will come with something…unpleasant. The good and the bad."

"What about you?" she asked, glancing up at him. "Do you come with the good and the bad?"

"_Moi_?" he asked. "I have the most baggage in the world. I come from one fucked-up family."

Hermione faced forward again. "Well, you've managed to get past all of that and turn into a fairly decent person."

"Fairly decent? Why, Miss Granger, are you trying to flatter me?"

She laughed. "Sorry, you've turned into an amazing person." She paused. "I wonder what you would be like as a boyfriend."

"I am an amazing boyfriend. Just ask three-fourths of the girls at this school."

She laughed again. "I wonder if dating you would be a smart decision. If it would solve all of my problems."

He chuckled. "Baby, you don't wanna know what happens when girls date me."

Hermione looked up at him again and Draco's smile faded. She glanced down at his lips, then back at his eyes. Before either could think rationally about their decision, his lips were on hers.

Neither noticed Blaise standing in the doorframe, having convinced the portrait to let him in, nor did they notice him slink back out of the room.

Hermione pulled away first and faced forward again. "Huh."

Draco glanced down at her. "What's that suppose to mean?"

She snorted. "It's not even like you felt anything, either, so don't get defensive."

"Who said I didn't feel anything?"

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Fine," he said, "I didn't feel anything. However, my automatic reaction, after kissing a girl, is that she must have to hold back so as not to jump me and take me right there."

Hermione burst into laughter. "Really? You honestly think that after kissing a girl?"

Draco shrugged. "I can't control how I feel."

Hermione tried to control her laughter. "Well, it was worth a try. At least now we know that we cannot have a romantic relationship."

"That's kind of a downer," he said.

"The truth is a downer."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: None of it belongs to me, except for the plot. **

**Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long. School seems to be getting in the way. Hope you like it. **

**Chapter Six**

The next day, Hermione spent about fifteen minutes after breakfast looking for Blaise. He hadn't been at the Slytherin table that morning, and Draco hadn't seen Blaise either.

Initially, Hermione had felt a little guilty about her kiss with Draco the night before, and that was what had started the search. However, she had realized that it was completely idiotic for her to feel guilty about the kiss, since it hadn't meant anything and they had just been experimenting. Now she was just upset that she couldn't seem to find Blaise.

Hermione turned down one more corridor, prepared to head back to her common room if Blaise wasn't in this hallway, when she saw him. He was standing in the middle of the hallway, surrounded by three fifth year girls. Hermione hadn't ever really considered herself someone who was aware of when people were flirting, particularly with her, but she could tell that there was some serious chemistry between the students.

Hermione felt a pain in her heart. It's not like she and Blaise had promised to be exclusive or anything, but it still hurt to see him flirt so openly with other girls.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione strode purposefully towards the group of students. The girls saw her first, and seemed to take a collective, simultaneous step back. That, or Hermione was just imagining it.

"Hey," Hermione said, turning to Blaise.

"Hey," he said, glancing up at her.

"Where were you during breakfast?"

"Here."

"Oh." Hermione glanced down, confused at his nonchalant attitude. "Um, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come with me to my common room. We could, ah, chat," she added, smiling.

Blaise glanced at her again, his eyes devoid of emotion. "Sorry. I'm busy right now." He turned back to the fifth years. Hermione felt like he had just slapped her across the face. Her cheeks turned pink and she struggled for a response.

"Right. Well, um, I, ah, I guess I'll just see you later then." She waved lamely, spun on her heel, and scurried away. She felt tears brimming in her eyes.

She got about halfway to the Heads common room when her tears turned to anger. What gave Blaise the right to speak to her like that? He was not better than her, and she deserved more respect than that. By the time she got to the common room, she was pissed.

Hermione entered the common room briskly and slammed the door shut behind her roughly. Draco, who had been laying on one of the couches, reading a book, flew off the couch in surprise. He scrambled to his feet and took in Hermione's angry, disheveled look.

"What's wrong?" he asked, cocking his head.

Hermione turned her hate-filled gaze onto him. "Your best friend is a prick."

Draco furrowed his brow. "Blaise? Why?"

"He just completely blew me off for some random, fifth-year skanks."

Draco resisted the urge to laugh, mostly because he thought Hermione would hex him if he did. He had just never heard her call anyone a skank before, and it was an extraordinary, hilarious moment that he wanted to savor for a really long time.

"You must be mistaken," he said. "Blaise likes you. I can't see him just blowing you off like that."

"Well, obviously he doesn't like me that much. Merlin, I can't believe him! I can't believe I fell for his, his…_charms_!" She collapsed on the couch and threw her arm over her eyes. "I am totally ashamed in myself, that I would let some guy treat me this way! Ugh! I just wanna…wanna…hex his balls off and send him into oblivion."

Draco sat on the edge of the seat next to her, careful not to get too close. He was fond of his balls, and would appreciate it if she didn't get upset at him and hurt his package.

"Sweetie, do you want me to talk to him? Maybe you just misunderstood him."

"I definitely did not misunderstand him," she said, sitting up quite rapidly and shocking Draco backwards. "And I really don't care if you talk to him or not. I don't want to have anything to do with him, ever again. He is dead in my eyes."

"Don't you, um, think that's a little…overdramatic? I'm sure you won't always be upset at him."

Hermione suddenly faced Draco, her eyes like lasers. "I have never opened myself up to a guy like that before, and I am truly upset. I don't think I'm being overdramatic. He hurt me, _really_ hurt me, and now I want him to feel the same way. I'm absolutely disgusted with him."

"Okay," he said, tentatively placing a hand on her shoulder. "I understand that. And I'm sorry he caused so much pain for you. But I'm still going to talk to him. _I _can't understand why he would act like that, and _I _want to know what is going on. I hope you don't mind that."

"Whatever," she said, standing up. "I'm going to go work on some homework." She left the room without a backwards glance.

Draco left the common room in search of Blaise. He couldn't believe that Blaise would treat Hermione that way, and wanted to do some investigating on his own.

He found Blaise in the Slytherin common room. Blaise was facing the door to the room, yet he didn't look up from his book when Draco entered the room. He didn't even look up when Draco sat down next to him.

"Hey man, can I talk to you?" Draco asked.

Blaise glanced up, his eyes cold. "I'm busy."

"Right," Draco said. "I really don't care. Why were you so mean to Hermione early? I mean, she didn't do anything to you, did she?"

"It's whatever," Blaise said. "I've moved on."

"It's not because of the thing at Hogsmeade, is it? Because that's a really stupid thing to get upset about. She just gets embarrassed easily, but that doesn't mean she doesn't like you anymore."

"I can't handle being with her anymore. I don't need something so intense right now. I'm moving on."

Draco didn't say anything for a few moments, and then stood. "Fine, jackass. I just hope you know what you are giving up." He left the room without looking back.

* * *

Hermione had spent about ten minutes in her room, attempting to do some homework, before getting aggravated and deciding to take a walk around campus. She didn't think she would run into Blaise, but, even if she did, was planning on playing it cool and not letting him see that she was hurt.

"Hello, Ms. Granger." Hermione looked up and realized that she was standing in front of the DADA classroom. The door was open and, since Hermione had apparently just stopped in the middle of the hallway, in front of said door, David could see her from his desk.

She felt her cheeks redden, but entered the classroom. "Hello, Professor," she said, walking over to his desk.

"What are you doing on this side of the castle?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.

She smiled. "My feet seemed to have led me over here, completely on their own accord."

"Completely understandable," he said. "It's good that you are here, actually," he added, standing up. "I need help with something."

Hermione resisted thinking about all the naughty things she could help him with. "What, um, did you need?"

He motioned for her to follow him back into his office. "I haven't had a chance to finishing unpacking all of my things, and the process would definitely go faster if I had another pair of hands to help."

"You know a girl for a few weeks, and you expect her to help you with manual labor," she said, smirking.

He laughed. "You don't have to help me, if you don't want to."

"I have absolutely nothing better to do," she said, moving to one of the boxes that were pushed against the wall.

"I, ah, am sorry about interrupting you and your…friend yesterday. I was just shocked and it was an automatic reaction."

"It's okay," Hermione said. She kept her head down. "He and I are actually kind of on the rocks right now."

"Really? Why?"

"He, um, is just acting like a jerk. And I'd rather we not talk about it. I don't want to think about him."

"That's fine," David said. "We can talk about something else…How are your studies?"

"Amazing," Hermione said, smiling up at him. "And how are you classes?"

"Spectacular," he replied. "Everyone here is really nice, and is accepting me rather quickly. I was a little worried, initially. This place is known for being a difficult place to teach at."

"Yeah, we've had some issues here in the past."

The pair continued unpacking David's things and discussing everything important to them. Their families, their favorite books, food, music, when they were happiest, and when they were saddest. Hermione began to forget that he was her teacher, and began to think of him as a friend.

David's office had a couch pushed up against the wall, and about an hour later, they found themselves lounging on the couch, still talking about everything important to them. Hermione forgot about Blaise, her schoolwork, all the craziness in her life, and just focused on absorbing all of the stories David regaled upon her.

"So my sister decides that, since she has mastered the art of riding a broom, she must also be able to fly without a broom."

"Naturally," Hermione interjected, smiling.

"Remember, she was seven at this time, I only a few years older, so neither of us was exceptionally willing to fully think through her actions, or their consequences. She manages to climb one of the trees in the backyard, and is preparing to jump off. I was standing at the foot of the tree, ready to measure how far she made it before she landed safely.

"By sheer luck, our father looks out the window just as she is jumping into the air, and, like the true wizard he is, stops her and levitates her down to the ground. She was completely unharmed. Of course, we both were punished so harshly after this little experiment that it essentially was like she had broken her arm, just without the trips to the hospital."

Hermione laughed. "You sound like an amazing older brother," she said sarcastically.

"I definitely think I have improved as an older brother," David replied. "At least, I've made sure my sister doesn't hurt herself again. I'm a very protective brother."

Hermione's smile softened. "I sometimes wish that I had siblings. It can be…lonely, being the only child. I love my parents and everything, but it would have been nice to have someone to get into trouble with when I was younger."

"Hermione Granger, get into trouble? Never!" David laughed and swung his arm across the back of the couch. The two were facing each other and, had Hermione just tilted her head to the right, she would have been leaning against his arm.

"You are very easy to talk to," Hermione said after a few moments of silence.

"I like to listen to you," David replied. Hermione tried not to notice how his voice lowered and the way her belly twisted as she glanced at his lips.

"Hermione." His voice was barely a whisper. He reached up and pushed a curl back away from her face, curling it behind her ear. She momentarily lost the ability to breathe.

"Prof--" she began to say, but he cut her off.

"Shh," he said, cupping her face. Before she could think, his lips were on hers.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Only the plot belongs to me.**

**Author's Note: Please read and review**

**Chapter 7**

_What the hell was I thinking? He's a teacher! And I'm his student! We could get into so much trouble if someone saw us! _

Hermione's thoughts were racing as she paced up and down the common room, wringing her hands. Her kiss with David had only lasted a few more seconds and she had raced out of his office once it was over. She had been doing a lot of that lately, running away from guys she had just kissed. It was starting to get a little pathetic.

Hermione wasn't really sure why she was in the common room, and not in her bedroom, where she should be. She supposed that, if she really thought about her reasoning, she would have to admit that she wanted Draco to be in the common room, so that she could talk about the kiss with him. She could also talk about the kiss with Ginny but Draco was easier to get to.

Of course, Hermione didn't feel like thinking about her feelings all that deeply so, when Draco finally came back to the common room, she had retreated to her bedroom. She could hear Draco moving about in the common room and, when he still hadn't gone to his bedroom ten minutes later, she went out to the common room.

"Hey," Draco said, sitting up when he saw her come him. "I, um, I talked to Blaise. And you were definitely right in not wanting to have anything to do with him. I don't know what has made him so upset but he's being an asshole."

Hermione spun around so she was facing him. "I kissed David."

Draco just stared at her for a few moments. "Bloody hell, Hermione! Are you trying to kiss your way through the men at Hogwarts, or something?"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me! I never use to be this boy crazy. And now I'm kissing every guy I see! Draco, tell me how to fix this!"

"I'm sorry, love, but I don't know what to do," he said, shaking his head and smirking, "besides locking you up in your room and not letting you go near any other guys."

"You are absolutely no help."

He laughed. "My apologies, love. I honestly don't know how to help you. Maybe you should just swear of guys forever."

She scoffed. "Just as soon as you swear off girls."

"Did I just hear you propose a bet?" he asked, smirking.

"Not likely. It wouldn't even be fair, pitting me against you in that kind of a bet."

"What are you suggesting, Miss Granger?" Draco asked, leaning in close.

She smiled. "I'm _saying _that I would kick your ass if we made a bet."

He laughed. "Are you kidding me? I can't remember the last time I made out with a girl, and you just snogged a professor! I think I would win."

"Oh please! Who was that fourth year you were caught with last week?"

"She doesn't count," he said, waving his hand nonchalantly.

She laughed. "Sure she doesn't."

The pair bantered some more about their previous partners, before finally calling it quits and heading to bed. Hermione still hadn't resolved her David issues but seemed to have forgotten that she even had a problem.

* * *

The next morning, Hermione and Draco walked to breakfast together. Neither brought up the proposed bet from the night before and neither discussed Hermione's kiss with a teacher. However, it was most definitely on both of their minds.

They separated ways when they got to the Great Hall and Hermione searched for Ginny at the Gryffindor table. The girl was sitting in the middle, next to Harry and across from Ron. Hermione squeezed in next to Ron.

"Hey, 'Mione," Ron said, through a mouthful of biscuits.

"Morning," she said.

"You look chipper," Ginny said sarcastically, Harry's arms wrapped around her. "Sleep well?"

"I'm not sure if 'well' is how I would describe it, but I did in fact sleep," Hermione said.

Ginny squinted her eyes. "Is everything okay?"

"I've just got a lot going on right now."

"Do you want to talk?"

"Maybe later." Hermione's attention was brought to the door of the Great Hall. Blaise walked through, surrounded by about three or four girls. They trailed after him as he walked to the Slytherin table, taking a seat as far away from Draco as possible, it seemed. The girls crowded around him, batting their eyes and flirting as he told a story that looked to be the funniest story in the world.

Ginny followed Hermione's gaze. Her eyes settled back on Hermione. "Is everything okay…with everyone else?"

"It's no big deal," Hermione said. She grabbed some food and stood. "I'm going to go to the library and work on some homework before class starts. I'll see you guys later."

She strode out of the Great Hall, only glancing once at the Slytherin table. She told herself that she was just trying to let Draco that she was okay but she felt her eyes sliding over to Blaise. She made it out of the Great Hall before she was forced to look at him. However, she also did not see him watching her leave, his eyes dark and hooded. Nor did he notice Draco watching him watching Hermione.

By the time third period rolled around, Hermione had withdrawn almost completely into herself. She just wasn't in the mood to deal with classes or other people, let alone the men in her life who were causing turmoil inside of her.

Several times throughout the day, she had considered just skipping her classes for the rest of the day and instead stroll around the campus. However, the good student inside of her would not allow such a thing to happen. Instead, she attended her classes, keeping quiet, her thoughts floating about.

"Good morning, class." Hermione's thoughts were brought back to the surface as David addressed the DADA class. She wasn't sure how she ended up in her seat but she was glad to see that she could still perform basic duties on autopilot.

"Today, you will be working in pairs," he continued, "practicing the Memory spell, which we began working on yesterday. You will begin by attempting to extricate recent memories from your partner and then will move onto discovering memories deeper into your partner's subconscious and past. I do not expect you to get too far into each other's thoughts, but I hope for you to at least get a few years back." He waved his wand at the board and it was filled with names of the students and their partners. "Get with your partner and begin working on the spell."

Hermione was pleased to see that she was partnered with Ron and she quickly hurried over to his side.

The class period passed by rather quickly. Hermione mastered the spell easily enough, and got a kick out of learning that Ron spent one summer when he was younger protecting a tree because he thought a family of wood nymphs were living in the branches. Ron unfortunately was not able to grasp the complexities of the spell and, as a result, almost caused Hermione to lose her eyebrows.

"I really am sorry," Ron said, after class was over.

"It's okay," Hermione reassured him, subconsciously keeping her hand by her eyebrows, to protect them.

Ron smiled gratefully and walked to the door of the classroom. Hermione moved to follow him.

"Ms. Granger?" David's voice stopped her. "Would you mind staying after class for a moment?" She sighed, waved goodbye to Ron and Harry, and walked over to David's desk.

He stood up and met her halfway. "I am so sorry about yesterday. I was completely out of line. It was absolutely risky and not worth it. We both could get into so much trouble if anyone finds out. I shouldn't let my…feelings…about you cloud my judgment. You are my student and it was inappropriate."

Hermione didn't speak for a full minute. Acting purely on instinct, she grabbed David's face and pressed her lips against his.

David stood completely still. Hermione pulled away, checked that he was breathing, and then kissed him again. This time, she was softer, massaging his lips with hers, wrapping her arms around his neck. She smiled when his arms settled on her hips and he moved his lips against hers.

"Hermione?!" Hermione pulled away from David and looked at the door. Blaise was standing in the doorway, shock on his face. He backed away from the door and practically sprinted away from the room.

"Blaise! Wait!" Hermione ran after him, barely thinking through her actions.

She finally caught up to him speed walking down one of the corridors. She grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Please, Blaise, you can't tell anyone about what you saw. It would ruin David! And me!"

"Merlin, Hermione!" Blaise said, spinning around so he was facing her. "Will you make out with everyone at this school before you'll make out with me? I mean, do you really find me that hideous?!"

"Blaise, what are you talking about? I—"

He put up a hand to stop her. "Look, I won't tell anyone about you and your boyfriend. Just please, leave me alone." He left her standing in the corridor, alone.

Her feet seemed to lead her to the Potions classroom as her thoughts raced. Blaise's wording had confused her. What did he mean, that she was making out with everyone else at the school? Who else had she kissed, besides David? Well, there was that fake kiss, with Draco, but he couldn't possibly have been able to know about that, right? He wasn't there.

Snape distracted her with his monotonous voice for the next two hours. She left the dungeons not really sure about what she had just learned and not any closer to figuring out what she was going to do about Blaise or David. She was absolutely confused.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Author's Note: Please read and review.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Hermione wasn't really sure how she managed to get to all of her classes on time and actually remain conscious during them; however, she had to assume that she had done things correctly because no one had dragged her to Dumbledore's office.

She thought about having dinner in the Great Hall but chose to forgo it, worried that she would run into Blaise or David or both of them. She didn't want to deal with her boy troubles at this moment.

She walked into the common room, prepared to take a long bath then climb into bed, but something stopped her. Or rather, someone.

"Hermione! Oh, thank Merlin you decided to skip dinner! I was worried I was going to have to wait in here for another hour before you came back!"

"Ginny! What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, trying to calm her beating heart after Ginny's surprise attack.

"I can tell when my best friend is having guy trouble, and I knew I had to come see you," she said, walking over to Hermione and gripping her hands. "Now, please, sit down and tell me what's going on."

Hermione spent about ten minutes explaining to Ginny what had been happening, telling her about Blaise and his new attitude and ending with her kiss with David and Blaise's embarrassing interruption.

"You kissed a teacher! You actually kissed a teacher! Twice! Those few times I imagined something like this happening, I assumed _I _would be the one to kiss the teacher, not you!"

Hermione couldn't stop herself from laughing. "You've actually imagined this before?"

"Not much," Ginny said nonchalantly. "Just once or twice. Like you haven't." Ginny giggled. "Well, I guess you don't actually have to imagine it anymore."

"Gin, be serious," Hermione said, smiling. "I just…I just don't know what to do. I mean, I know that it's wrong, that he could get fired and that my reputation could be ruined. But, when I'm with him…and when we're just talking, I…I can't explain it. He's just so sweet…and smart…and gorgeous…And I know that he likes me, probably as much as I like him. Maybe more. And he's so mature. I can actually have an intelligent conversation with him, without worrying if he's actually thinking about the newest broom or the next girl he's gunna make out with, or if his biceps look good in his shirt. He's actually thinking about…me." She looked at Ginny. "Am I being crazy?"

A soft smile spread across Ginny's face. "I think you really like him. And it sounds like he likes you. But I just hope you know that you're playing with fire. And I hope you are prepared to deal with any consequences that may come from this."

"I know," Hermione said, staring at her hands.

"Okay, now you need to tell me about Blaise. Why is he acting like such a tool?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I don't even know. I mean, things were awkward at Hogsmeade, but not enough for him to just completely write me off. I don't know what I did. And he won't even speak to me long enough to tell me what I did. He's acting like a child."

Ginny thought for a moment. "Do you want me to talk to him? Maybe I can figure out what's wrong."

Hermione sighed. "It's worthless. Draco already tried talking to him about it and he completely blew him off. I can't really see you being any more effective."

"I suppose." Ginny glanced at the clock. "Well, I should probably get going. I have a ton of homework to do." She stood and pulled Hermione up with her. "I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow, right?" Hermione smiled and nodded. Ginny pulled her into a hug and left the common room.

While Hermione finally got around to taking a bath, Ginny went in search of Blaise. She knew how he had been looking at Hermione and how happy he was around her. She was determined to figure out why he was acting so weird. She didn't want to see Hermione hurt, even if Professor Cartwright was making her so happy.

Ginny knew the most effective way to get Blaise to tell her the truth would be to yell at him. Hell, that was how she got most men in her life to tell her the truth. It had been pretty effective thus far.

Ginny stood outside the Great Hall, took a deep breath, and then pushed open the doors roughly. The thud echoed in the Hall, and everyone looked at her. She ignored Harry's questioning face and stalked over to the Slytherin table. She found Blaise easily enough.

She stood in front of him, her hand on her hip, her head cocked. "Evening, Blaise," she said. "Mind if we have a little chat?"

Blaise regarded her with a bored look. "Might I ask what for?"

"You can ask, but that doesn't guarantee I'll respond to your satisfaction."

"And why can't this subject be discussed in front of the entire school?"

Ginny glanced around at their fellow peers, most of who were trying to act like they weren't watching the two students. Of course, the really brave (and stupid) were just staring openly.

"Well, odds are, by the time this conversation has ended, I will have yelled at you thoroughly enough to embarrass you until next Tuesday," she finally said. "You are completely welcome to endure this embarrassment in front of the entire school, but I would suggest that, for the sake of your reputation and your sanity, that we take this out into the hallway."

Blaise didn't speak for a full minute. Finally, he sighed, stood up, and followed Ginny out into the corridor.

They walked down the hallway in silence, before Ginny finally spun around and faced off with him, her robes billowing out around her.

"Why are you such a prick?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

Blaise returned her stare down. "It's in my DNA. I'm surprised you didn't know that, Weasley."

"Don't be an arse, Zabini. It's very unbecoming. Now, you are going to tell me why you are being such a prick to Hermione, and I'll hex off your testicles."

"I think you mean you _won't _hex off my testicles."

"Oh, I don't," she said, a vicious smile on her face.

Blaise ran a hand through his hair. "Why do you even care?"

"Because Hermione is my closest friend and, for some insane reason, she likes you. I can't just let you hurt her like that, without some kind of consequences."

"I think your information is wrong, Weasley. Your _friend_ doesn't like me very much. I mean, she's been kissing every other person in this school _besides_ me. Obviously that means something."

"What are you talking about?"

"You didn't hear?" Blaise chuckled. "Not only did I catch Granger with Draco, but I also found her making out with a teacher. How's that for liking me? She likes me so much, she can't help but make out with my best friend _and_ my teacher!"

"Blaise, that's not it, and you know it," she said, reaching out to him.

"Just leave me alone," he said, shrugging her off and stalking away. Ginny watched him leave, unsure of what to do.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. **

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

Ginny found Hermione easily enough, back in her common room. Draco was also in the room, and the two had been working on homework.

"Did you two kiss?" Ginny asked straightforwardly, without any pomp or circumstance.

Hermione's eyes widened. "What? No! What are you even-" She broke off and turned to Draco, as realization dawned.

"Well?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms.

Hermione cringed, while Draco spoke. "We may have kissed," he said slowly. "But it was purely experimental."

"_Purely experimental_? What the hell does that even mean?"

"Well, it-"

"I know what it means," the redhead said, holding her hand up to silence Hermione.

"Why are you so interested?" Hermione asked.

Ginny sighed. "Because, somehow, Blaise found out about the kiss, and that is why he is so upset."

Draco furrowed his brow. "But that can't be the only reason he's upset. I mean, yes, we kissed, but it was only once, and it's not like it meant anything. I can't believe he doesn't see that."

Ginny turned to Hermione, her eyebrow raised. "Well, well, it's seems like someone is keeping something from you, Draco." Hermione blushed and Draco's eyes shot over to them.

"What is she talking about?" he asked Hermione.

When it looked like Hermione wasn't going to answer, Ginny stepped in. "Miss Granger here has not only been kissing you, dear Draco. She has also snogged Professor Cartwright. Twice."

"What?" Draco nearly exploded. "You kissed a professor? When? How could you not tell me?"

Hermione cringed. "I'm sorry. It didn't really seem like something I should be bragging about. And with Blaise so angry, it just felt wrong. I, I knew that he was upset about that kiss, but I had no idea he knew about ours. I figured telling you about my kiss with David wouldn't solve anything. Plus, I haven't really had much time to think clearly about things lately."

"Oh, Merlin, you're calling him 'David,'" Draco said, collapsing on the couch. "This is so much worse than I thought. Do you not realize how completely insane this all is? How much trouble the both of you could get into if it got out?"

"Of course I realize that," Hermione practically snapped, putting her head in her hands. "It's like I can't control myself around him. He's not like any guy I've ever met before and I just…I don't know what's wrong with me! I'm such a harlot!"

"No, you're not," Ginny said, sitting next to the girl and placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're just…confused…I guess."

Hermione turned to Draco, her eyes brimming with tears. "What do you think? Am I a harlot?"

He sighed. "No, you're not. Like Ginny said, you're confused."

"So what should I do?"

"I think you should tell Blaise that our kiss was meaningless. And then you need to figure out what you are going to do about Professor Cartwright. I suppose, technically, you are legal, so you could just choose to wait until graduation and then just…be with him."

"But is that what I want?" Hermione mused, lying back on the couch. "While Blaise is acting a bit like a tosser, I'll be willing to admit that I played a part in his recent actions." Ginny harrumphed at this, but kept quiet otherwise. "But before all this, before everything went to hell, he…he made me happy. He knew how to make me smile. I, I felt better, knowing that he was in the room, that h-he was around me." She smiled ruefully. "Plus, society might be more willing to accept us, than accepting David and me."

"You have gotten into yourself into one big mess," Draco said, after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah…I suppose I should talk to Blaise, huh?" She looked up at Draco and Ginny.

"That would be a good idea," Ginny said. She turned to Draco. "Blaise will probably be in the Slytherin dungeons, right? You should go with Hermione and get him out of the common room, so they can talk."

"Will he listen to you?" Hermione asked Draco.

He smirked. "I'll make him."

* * *

Their plan worked out perfectly; that is, until Blaise saw who was waiting for him outside the dungeons. When he saw Hermione, he made a strangled noise in the bottom of his throat and turned around, as if to go back into the common room; however, Draco was waiting for him and pushed him back out into the hallway.

"You need to talk," the blonde boy said. He looked to Hermione. "I'll start walking up to the common room. Catch up with me…when you're done." He sent Blaise one last look before strolling away.

Blaise turned to Hermione, crossing his arms over his chest and sighing. "Well? What do you want to talk to me about?"

Hermione looked around helplessly. They weren't exactly in a secluded area, and she didn't really want anyone to hear them. "Can we go somewhere more…private?"

"Anything you have to say to me, you can say to whoever walks past."

"Fine," she said, sighing. "I know that you saw Draco and me kissing. But it wasn't a…real kiss. We were just messing around. I honestly only see Draco as a friend, and I know that he feels the same way."

"Okay, that's good to know, but it still doesn't explain how you could kiss a teacher, and expect me to be okay with that."

Hermione cringed. "I don't expect you to be okay with that kiss. I…I don't know how to explain that. And I'm pretty sure that, if I were to explain it in the same way that I explained it to Ginny, you would probably hate me more."

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't hate you. I actually like you, quite a lot. That's probably why I reacted so negatively to all that's happened."

She smiled contritely. "Does it make you feel any better to know that I like you too? Quite a lot?"

"But you also like our teacher."

She closed her eyes briefly. "Yeah. I know."

He sighed, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then took a step closer to Hermione. He put his hand on her waist, pulling her towards him, and used his other hand to push her head against his chest. She moved forward, unsure, before wrapping her arms around his body and returning his hug. He pressed his lips against the top of her head, breathing in her scent.

"Just…please…make a decision. Soon," he said finally. "I-I don't think I can live like this anymore. I would rather you…choose him, than make me think you are choosing me, but don't actually mean it. Of course," he added playfully, "I would rather you choose me in the long run, but that's beside the point."

She laughed. "Okay, I'll-I'll think about it."

He pulled away, kissed her forehead, and then sent her on her way.

* * *

**Review please!**


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